On the papers on: Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries

Municipal solid waste is a growing problem. Due to rapid urbanization, specially with the growth of slums waste management is not keeping pace, and often it is seen more lucrative to provide richer neighbourhoods with good waste management, instead of making any efforts for poor communities. In general the priorities to avoid solid waste should be avoidance, minimisation, reuse, recycling, recovery, treatment and disposal, but is big investments are made for treatment and disposal the eager of making efforts in the first four steps diminishes.

Insufficient solid waste management leads to environmental and health problems. It may pollute air, water and soil while providing food and breeding ground for rodents and vector insects. "Studies have shown that a high percentage of workers handeling refuse, and individuals residing near or on disposal sites, are infected by gastrointestinal parasites, worms and related organisms." (Solid Waste Management, p.8)

In my opinion a key issue is to separate organic waste from non-organic and find a good solution for handling that, the scale can vary between a household compost, or a small biogas plant on the backyard to a municipal composting or biogas plant. Depending on the toilet solution the faeces could be processed in the same municipal plant. If the organic waste and the dirt is separated it becomes easier to handle and recycle rest of the waste, that could either be divided at the source, or picked up daily and collected at a recycle plant.

An interesting project that I got to know about concerning solid waste, and activating people to clean up their surroundings in Let's do it world. The first clean up of a whole country in one day was done in Estonia, where illegal dumps had first been mapped and were during one day taken to collection point were they were picked up to be recycled and disposed. This year actions have been made in New Delhi, India and in May 2011 the campaign will be carried out in Finland.

Pre reading: Solid Waste Management, Sandec Training Tool 1.0 - Module 6, Sandec: Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries, Eawag - Aquatic Research, 2008
Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries, Chris Zurbrugg, SANDEC / EAWAG